With a Lone Star Conference regular season championship and hosting rights for the LSC conference tournament already guaranteed, the No. 2 ACU women’s soccer team’s two games this weekend might seem to have little meaning.
But, to the team and head coach Casey Wilson, these two games have infinite value.
“Even with the season that we’ve already had, I still feel like we could break out and have a great offensive outing in the games this weekend,” Wilson said. “We’re going to strive for that. The season is still going on, and we need to not take any game lightly.”
Sophomore defender Brie Buschman echoed Wilson on the importance of the pair of games ahead.
“We know that both teams are very capable of presenting challenges to our games against them,” Buschman said. “Our goal is to take things one game at a time and not get too ahead of ourselves despite what is or isn’t riding on the results of the games.”
The No. 2 Wildcats (15-0-1) will begin their two-game stretch Friday in Wichita Falls as they take on Midwestern State before closing out the regular season at 1 p.m. Sunday against West Texas A&M.
The Mustangs have caught fire as of late. The team has won its last five out of six matches. The combined scores of those games is 13-2, and that includes a 5-0 win over West Texas A&M and a 4-0 win over Texas Woman’s.
“Midwestern State is playing very well right now,” Wilson said. “They are clicking on all cylinders and present several challenges to us.”
Buschman said the key for ACU not falling victim to the Mustangs’ hot streak lies in not conforming to their style of play.
“We have to come out early and establish our presence and style of play against them,” she said. “As long as we are controlling the game’s pace, we will have more opportunities to play our style of soccer.”
The Mustangs are led by senior forward Kelsey Hill, who has scored nine goals and has 27 points on the season.
“Midwestern is a very talented team overall,” Wilson said. “Containing their forwards will be difficult and is something we have been focusing on in practice all week.”
Sunday marks the regular season’s close as the Wildcats play host to rival West Texas A&M.
The Lady Buffs (7-8-1) are riding a two-game losing streak going into their game Friday against Eastern New Mexico.
This game may have playoff implications for West Texas as the team is looking to hold off Incarnate Word for the sixth and final spot in the conference tournament.
West Texas A&M has been in a skid as of late, losing four of its last six conference matches, but Buschman still is not taking this game lightly.
“West Texas will always play well when they travel here,” Buschman said. “They have some great midfielders that we had trouble shutting down, so we’re going to have to really come together as a defensive unit to shut them down.”
Sunday will mark Senior Day for three Wildcat players, as Lyndsey Womack, Elliott London, and Ashley Holton will be honored before the game.
